Friday, July 18, 2008

Houston, We Have A Problem.

Apple turned the launch of the iPhone 3G into an event, but the first day was marred by the fact that credit checks are individual and don't benefit from economies of scale. There was lots of publicity but also considerable unhappiness.

In an age of always in beta, it surprises me how many companies still focus on launch days and events and risk anti-climax as a result of being unable to service the instant demand they've generated.

Even if day one goes fabulously, you're going to have cumulatively more customers to deal with on day two and beyond, so why this obsession with hitting a home run on day one? It's not how you built your business, so why change a successful formula?

1 Comments:

I genuinely believe that the Apple 3G iPhone marks a massive shift in the values of the Apple organisation.

For a company to actively promote that they are producing a product based on price [the key feature of the 3G iPhone] is such a shift in what Apple have built their brand on, that I now foresee a change in both how the company operates and it's popularity with the long-term Apple loyalists.

Sure they've utilised cheaper materials in the past to come in at a specific price point [the first iMac for example] but this was never expressed in the marketing focus and yet most people know the 'cut backs' Apple have introduced to get the price so low and whilst they may not care, to loyalists, it's a negative shift both technically and attitudinally,